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In commenting on the book of Enoch, I'll refer mostly to sources outside the Pearl of Great Price. Because all the versions from which the book are taken were unknown in the time of Joseph Smith, these give remarkable confirmation of the Pearl of Great Price. Remember, Joseph Smith did give us a book of Enoch in chapters 6 and 7 of the book of Moses. I've written over a thousand pages on it, and I haven't even scratched the surface. The noncanonical stories of the Garden of Eden and the Flood have been very damaging to the Christian message, because they are the easiest to visualize, and you can popularize them more easily than any other of the Bible accounts.

Everybody has seen a garden, and everybody has been in a heavy rainstorm, so it requires no effort of the imagination for a six-year-old to convert concise, straightforward Sunday-school recitals into the vivid images that will stay with him for the rest of his life. These stories have been discredited as nursery tales because in a sense they are nursery tales, retaining forever the forms they take in the imaginations of small children, defended by grownups, who refuse to distinguish between childlike faith and thinking as a child when it is, as Paul says, time to "put away childish things." (1 Corinthians 13:11.)

It's equally easy and deceptive to fall into adolescent disillusionment, especially when "emancipated" teachers smile tolerantly at the simple gullibility of bygone days while passing stern moral judgment on the savage old "tribal god" who, overreacting with impetuous violence, wiped out Noah's neighbor simply for making fun of his boat-building on a fine summer day. The sophisticated say that these so-called myths were tolerable in bygone days, but now it's time to grow up.

Apocalyptic in general, and the writings attributed to Enoch in particular, are correctives for this myopia. They give us what purports to be a much fuller account of what happened. In the Bible we have only two or three verses about Enoch. But these parts that have been thrown out of the Bible (anciently they were part of it) give us a much fuller picture. This allows us to curb the critics' impetuosity and limit their license. The apocalyptic writings tell us in detail what happened—in much greater detail than the Bible. They also tend to make it clear to us just why it happened, and they have come to be regarded as invented "theodicies" to justify the ways of God to man.

In giving us a much fuller account than the Bible of how the Flood came about, the book ofEnoch settles the moral issue with several telling parts:

1. God's reluctance to send the Flood and his great sorrow at the event.

2. The peculiar brand of wickedness that made the Flood mandatory.

3. The frank challenge of the wicked to have God do his worst.

4. The happy and beneficial side of the event—it did have a happy outcome.

Now to the first item, about God's not wanting to send the flood: In the Hebrew book of Enoch(discovered by Dr. Jellinek in 1873, long after Joseph Smith's time), Enoch introduces himself to Rabbi Ishmael, who meets him in the seventh heaven in the heavenly temple and says to him, "I am Enoch the son of Jared. When the generation of the flood committed sin, and said to God, turn away from us, for the knowledge of thy ways gives us no pleasure, then the Holy One delivered me from them that I might be a witness against them in the high heavens for all ages to come that no one might say the merciful one is cruel." In the Syriac Apocalypse of Paul, the apostle also is introduced to Enoch, being told when he is asked, "Who is this weeping angel?": "It is Enoch, the teacher of righteousness."

"So I entered into that place," Paul reports, "and saw the great Elijah, who came to meet us." He too was weeping, saying, "Oh Paul, how great are the promises of God and his benefits and how few are worthy of them!"

There is, to say the least, no gloating in heaven over the fate of the wicked world. It is Enochwho leads the weeping, as it is in the Joseph Smith account. Enoch puts forth his arm and weeps, and says, "I will refuse to be comforted." (Moses 7:44.) Enoch is the great weeper in the Joseph Smith version. Of course, he doesn't want the destruction of the human race. But in the Joseph Smith version, the amazing thing is that when God himself weeps and Enochsays, "How is it that thou canst weep?" (Moses 7:29), Enoch bears testimony that the God of heaven actually wept. It is a shocking thing to say, but here again, if we go to another Enochtext, there it is! When God wept over the destruction of the temple, we're told in one of the midrashim that it was Enoch who fell on his face and said, "I will weep, but weep not thou!" God answered Enoch and said, "If thou [Enoch] wilt not suffer me to weep, I God will go whither thou canst not come and there I will lament"—in other words, it's none of your business if I want to weep. The significant thing is that the strange conversation in both stories is between God and a particular individual—Enoch. How would Joseph Smith know that?

In another text we are told, "When God sets about to destroy the wicked, then the Messiah lifts up his voice and weeps, and all the righteous and the saints break out in crying and lamenting with him." Here again we recall from the Joseph Smith Enoch how all the righteous and "all the workmanship of my hands" shall weep (Moses 7:40) at the destruction of the human race. The Lord says, "Wherefore should not the heavens weep, seeing these shall suffer?" (Moses 7:37.) But the same thing happens in the apocryphal writings; not only God but all the other creatures weep for the wickedness of man.

The stock reply to the charge against God of cruelty has ever been that man with his limited knowledge is in no position to judge the wisdom or charity of what God does or does not do. The extreme example of the argument is set forth in the Khadir stories. But, significantly, this argument is not emphasized in the apocalyptic writings. There God does not say to the holy man who is afflicted by the fate of the wicked, "Who are you to question what I do?" He does not blast Enoch or Abraham or Ezra or the brother of Jared on the spot for daring to question his mercy. On the contrary, he commends each one for his concern for his fellowmen and explains, in effect, "I know just how you feel, but what you fail to understand is that I had good reason for doing what had to be done, and I feel much worse about it than you could. You come far short of being able to love my creatures more than I." He commends the prophet Ezra for taking their part: "But even on this account, thou shalt be honorable before the most high because thou hast humbled thyself even as Abraham in pleading for Sodom and Gomorrah," wicked though you know they were. In the same spirit he replies to Baruch, "Do you think that there is no anguish to the angels in the presence of the mighty one? Do you think that in these things the Most High rejoices or that his name is glorified?" He doesn't want to see men miserable. The Joseph Smith text says that "Enoch looked upon their wickedness and their misery and wept"; he saw that they weren't happy at all. Then God tells them, I am not happy about that either"; no one in heaven is, for that matter. When Enoch is distressed beyond measure at the cosmic violence he must behold, Michael comforts him: "Why art thou disquieted with such a vision? Until this day lasted the day of his mercy, and he has been merciful and long suffering toward those who dwell on the earth."

Mercy is the keynote, not vengeance. God has not hastened to unleash the forces of nature but holds them back like a dam as long as possible. When the angels, in another Hebrew Enochfragment, beg God to get on with the work and wipe out the unworthy human race, he replies, "I have made and I remove; I am long-suffering and I rescue." After Enoch saw the angels of punishment who are prepared to come and let loose all the powers of the waters (this would be the Flood, to bring judgment and destruction on all who dwell on the earth), "the Lord of spirits gave commandment to the angels who were to go forth that they should not cause the waters to rise, but should hold them in check, for those angels were over the powers of the waters." On the contrary, the Flood was caused specifically by the cruelty of men, as we are told in Moses 7:34. God held back as long as he could while the angels were urging him to unleash the destruction. (The same thing is happening today. The angels protest, "Why do you let this go on so long?")

Thus this violence of the deluge, the completest of world catastrophes, is shown in the book ofEnoch to be the only solution to problems raised by the uniquely horrendous types of wickedness that were infesting the whole world with an order that was becoming fixed and immovable. There's no other cure for it. The Enoch literature elaborates particularly on the theme of Genesis: "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." (Genesis 6:11-12.)

"They are without affection, and they hate their own blood" is the Moses version. (7:33.) The texts say there were great disorders on the earth because of man who hates his neighbor and people who envy people: "A man does not withhold his hand from his son nor from his beloved to slay him nor from his brother."

Incidentally, the book of Enoch is quoted at least 128 times in the New Testament and very often in other places. Since the apocryphal manuscripts were discovered, we've recognized that Enoch is quoted all over the Bible and also frequently in the Book of Mormon. That is very interesting, since the Enoch literature has been discovered long since 1830.

A quotation from an Enoch text occurs in the thirteenth chapter of Helaman. "Ye have trusted in your riches," Enoch tells the people. "Ye have not remembered the Lord in the day he gave you your riches." (Cf. Helaman 13:33.) This is also Samuel the Lamanite speaking, an expert in the scriptures; he knew all about these things. He had access to the plates of brass and other records. And here Enoch speaks in a writing not discovered until 1888: "Ye have not remembered the Lord in the days he gave you your riches; ye have gone astray that your riches shall not remain, because you have done evil in everything. Cursed are you and cursed are your riches."

"Men dressing like women; women like men." The peculiar evil of the times consisted not so much in the catalog of human viciousness as in the devilish and systematic efficiency with which corruption was being riveted permanently to the social order. It was evil with a supernatural twist. The angels or "Watchers" themselves yielded to earthly temptation, mingled with the daughters of men, and used the great knowledge entrusted to them to establish an order of things on earth in direct contradiction to what was intended by God. Some Enoch texts tell of false priesthoods in the days of Seth; Adam had prophesied them, and God is angry in their attempts to surpass his power. Angels and all the races of men use his name falsely for deception. They're not worshipping devils. The Apocryphon of John tells us that the original attempt to corrupt men and angels, through the lust of sex, was a failure until the false ones set up a more powerful machinery of perversion. At first they failed, it says, so they came together and created the antimimon pneuma, a clever imitation of the true order of things, "and they brought gold and silver and metals, copper, and iron and all the treasures of the earth, so they married the women and begat the children of darkness; their hearts were closed up, and they became hard by this imitation false spirit." It was the deliberate exploitation of the heavenly order as a franchise for sordid earthly ambitions.

Another text says the ordinances have degenerated into a false baptism of filthy water. According to the Slavonic Secrets of Enoch, it was administered by false angels: "Woe unto you who pervert the eternal covenant and reckon yourselves sinless." It was no open revolt against God but a clever misuse of his name; no renunciation of religion but a perversion of piety. "The time is approaching when all life is to be destroyed on earth, for in those days there shall be great disorder on the earth."

Another theme is quoted in our Moses 7:26. The Adversary will glorify himself and rejoice with his followers in their works. The devil "laughed, and his angels rejoiced." As a result, the order of the entire earth will change and every fruit and plant will change its season, awaiting the time of destruction. The earth itself will be shaken and lose all solidarity. It is the reversal of all values as men worship: "Not the righteous law; they deny the judgment and take my name in vain." This vicious order was riveted down by solemn oaths and covenants of which we read a great deal in the Enoch literature. When the Sons of Heaven marry the Daughters of the Sons of Men, their leader Semiazus says, in a very recently discovered Greek fragment, "I fear you will not be willing to do this thing." So they say, "Let us swear an oath and bind ourselves all to each other. Then they all swore oaths and bound each other by them." The Lord says in the writings of Enoch in the book of Moses, "By their oaths, they have foresworn themselves, and, by their oaths, they have brought upon themselves death." The false oaths and the foreswearing is also an important theme. The systematic false teaching of the fallen angels soon "fills all the earth with blood and wickedness as the cries of the slain ascend to the gates of heaven, their groaning comes up and cannot depart because of the crimes being committed upon all the face of the earth." The passage in the book of Moses says the same thing.

The great heavenly angels, viewing these horrors from above and seeing only one solution, asked God how long he was going to permit Satan to get away with it. This is another aspect of theodicy: Must not God put an end to men when their evil deeds threaten far greater destruction than their own demise would be? The Pistis Sophia (transcribed, as it tells us in the introduction, from an earlier book of Enoch) asks, "Why did God throw the universe out of gear?" and answers, "For a wise purpose, for those who are destroyed would have destroyed everything." As it is, God had to hold back the destroyers until the last moment. The great danger to all existence was that the perverters knew too much. "Their ruin is accomplished because they have learned all the secrets of the angels and all the violence of Satan"; the threat is from them who have received the ordinances but have removed themselves from the law of the gospel. One must be willing to accept the law of God and the law of the gospel before he is qualified to receive the rest of the ordinances. They had received the ordinances, but they were not keeping the basic laws on which the ordinances were given. Still, employing the forms and knowledge they had, they set up a counter-religion and way of life. It was a time, says the Zohar, when the name of the Lord was called upon profanely. "In the days of Jared my father," says Enoch to Methuselah, "they transgressed the covenant of heaven; they sinned and betrayed the law of the gospel. They mingled with women and sinned with them. They also married and bore children, but not according to the spirit, but by the carnal order only." They changed the ordinances, they married under a different order.

Another text, first published in 1870, addresses the same issue: "Woe to you who write false teachings and things that lead astray and many lies, who twist the true accounts and wrest the eternal covenant and rationalize that you are without sin." This then was no mere naughtiness, but a clever inversion of values with forms and professions of loyalty to God that in its total piety and self-justification could never be set aright—it could only get worse. The Zohar states the general principle: whenever the Holy One has allowed the deep mysteries of wisdom to be brought down into the world of mankind, they have become corrupted, and men have attempted to declare war on God. The only redeeming feature of the thing was that the fallen angels who had perverted the human race had not learned all the mysteries in their heavenly condition (we're told in a Gizeh fragment), and so were not able to give away everything. As it was, their power for evil was almost unlimited.

According to the Psalm of Solomon, an early Syriac document discovered in 1906, "The secret places of the earth were doing evil, the son lay with the mother and the father with the daughter, all of them committed adultery with their neighbor's wives, they made solemn covenants among themselves concerning these things, and God was justified in his judgments upon the nations of the earth." (We're treating this as a theodicy.)

What else could he do? Part of the apocalyptic picture is the infection of the earth itself by the depravity of man, with the wicked sinning against nature and so placing themselves in a position of rebellion against the cosmos itself. It is as if one were to drive full speed the wrong way on the freeway during the rush hour. Only trouble can come from it. "While all nature obeys," Enoch tells the people, "you do not obey, you are puffed up and are vain; therefore, your destruction is consummated, and there is no mercy or peace for you." If you break all the laws, of course you will think that nature is fighting you. "They began to sin against the birds and the beasts and against each other, eating flesh and drinking blood while the earth fell under the rule of the lawless, until finally the earth itself laid an accusation against the lawless ones." All of this from an apocryphal source. That's interesting, because Enoch in the Pearl of Great Price hears a voice from the bowels of the earth, saying, "Wo, wo is me, the mother of men. . . . When shall I rest?" (Moses 7:48.)

Instead of the flood sent over a surprised community one fine day, we have in Enoch the picture of a long period of preparation during which the mounting restlessness of the elements clearly admonishes the human race to mend its ways. In the Enoch story, the darkening heavens, the torrential rains, and all manner of meteoric disturbances alternate with periods of terrible drought, and of course that is very clear in the book of Moses version: Remember how the land was blackened and utterly deserted in other parts, but remember also how "the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains." (Moses 7:28.) It's a dark sky, and always the water is flowing, the rivers turn from their courses, and so on. The same picture is in the apocryphal writings as in the Joseph Smith account of Enoch—the darkening heavens and the torrential rains. "Every cloud and mist and dew shall be withheld because of your sins," says one of the Enoch texts. "If God closes the windows of heavens and hinders the dew and rain from falling because of you, what will you do?" Enoch asks.

As during the twenty-five years of recurrent earthquakes that warned Abraham's Cities of the Plain to repent, the earth itself in Enoch's day became increasingly restless. The sea was first drawn back and the fishes were flopping around; and in the Joseph Smith version, sure enough, "There also came up a land out of the depth of the sea." (Moses 7:14.) Then the wicked invaded the new land, as Enoch had foretold, and all the people were in fear and trembling: "And fear shall seize them to the extremities of the earth, and the high mountains shall be shaken and fall down and be dissolved, flow down and be turned into side channels and shall melt like wax before a flame, and the earth will be rent with a splitting and cracking, and everything on earth shall be destroyed." This passage from the Slavonic version describes the same scene as in Moses 7:13-14, where the mountains flow down, the rivers are changed, and the earth shakes, when Enoch spoke the word of the Lord. The mountains shook, and all people were afraid; the rivers were turned from their courses, and the land rose up from the sea—the same picture. This does not sound as fantastic as it once did. Any catastrophe of the magnitude of the flood must have been accompanied by large-scale preliminary disturbances, plus side effects, exactly like those described. The terrible insecurity of the times heightened the social disaster, and the people began to fight among themselves. "A man shall not know his brother, nor a son his father or mother. For God permitted certain angels to go to the sons of adultery and destroy the sons of the watchers who were among mankind and set them to fighting against each other."

The preliminary vision is the key Enoch saw (in the Joseph Smith version) of a great people, who dwelt in tents in the plain in the valley known as Shum; and another great people of Canaan, who completely exterminated the people of Shum. They thus occupied the land and divided themselves; the land was cursed, and they had a terrible time. Emphasis is laid on the pollution of the earth, both physical and moral, for the two go together, and only a great purging of water, wind, or fire can cleanse it. Without such a periodic purging, says the Zohar, the world would not be able to endure the sins of mankind. In another Gizeh fragment we read, "And thou wilt cleanse the earth from all uncleanliness and from all filthiness, and all the earth shall be cleansed from the pollution—and from all impurity, and he shall cleanse the earth from the defilement that is in it." That is what happens. In the book of Moses the earth says, "Wo, wo is me, the mother of men. . . . When shall I rest, and be cleansed from the filthiness which is gone forth out of me?" (7:48.)

Characteristic of the sweep and scope of the Enoch apocalyptic are the disturbances of the whole cosmos, for Enoch wept not just for the earth but for the heavens' sake. And he "wept and stretched forth his arms, and . . . his bowels yearned; and all eternity shook." (Moses 7:41.) Why shouldn't these and all the creations weep? And all the heavens mourn? This is a common theme in the Enoch literature. The whole cosmos shares the fate of a violated planet. The whole earth shakes and trembles and is thrown into confusion, and the heavens and their lights shake and tremble. "And I saw how a mighty quaking made the heavens to quake and the angels were disquieted with a great disquiet." Inhabitants in the other worlds weep too.

In contemplating these terrifying events, Enoch never allows us to forget that the real tragedy is not what becomes of people, but what they become. That's the sad thing. The people ofEnoch's day and Noah's day were quite satisfied with themselves as they were, and they hotly resented any offers of help or advice from God's messenger; and all men were offended by Enoch's preaching. "They do not sow the seed which I give them," the Lord says toEnoch in a very important Enoch text, "but have taken another yoke and sow seeds of destruction and reject my kingship, and all the earth will be overwhelmed with iniquities and abominations." When Enoch asks the Lord why there were destructions, the first thing the Lord says is, "Behold, they are without affection"; "I gave them commandment they should have me to be their father, but they won't do it." Then he goes on, "I commanded them that they should love one another and serve me their father."

Here he says, "They don't sow the seed that I gave them; they've rejected my kingship, and all the earth will be overwhelmed." "The kings of the earth say, 'We have not believed before him; our hope was in the scepter of our kingship and in our glory.'" So when disaster strikes, they must confess that his judgments have no respect of persons. "We pass away from before his face on account of our own works." The theme often repeated in the book of Moses is that because of their own iniquities, they have brought destruction upon themselves. This is a very common theme. The refrain is ever "Wo unto you foolish ones, for you shall perish through your own folly." "They denied the Lord and would not hear the voice of the Lord but followed their own counsel. They go astray in the foolishness of their own hearts." They know not what they are doing when they say to God, "Turn away from us, for the knowledge of thy ways gives us no pleasure"—though God gave them promise of all that he would give them and all that he wanted them to do.

In the Joseph Smith version, Enoch asks, "Why are you going to destroy them? Why are we weeping?" The Lord answers, "In the day I created them I gave them three things, all they could want; I gave men knowledge, I gave them their agency, and I told them what to do—gave them a commandment that they should love one another and have me as their father. But behold they are without affection; they hate their own blood." A new fragment from the Apocalypse of Paul has the Lord explaining to Enoch what he promised men and told them he wanted them to do. "But they have defrauded themselves in refusing to keep the precepts which our Lord gave unto them. Therefore, ask no more concerning the multitude of them that perish," said the Lord, "for having received liberty [he used the word agency in the Joseph Smith version], they despised the Most High, scorned his laws, and forsook his way. Slavery was not given from above but came by transgression, and the barrenness of your women does not come by nature but by your willful perversions."

Peculiar to the world of Enoch is not only the arrogant quality of the sinning that went on, but the high degree of enlightenment enjoyed by the sinners, making them singularly culpable before God. Enoch explains that the Lord said, "I established Adam and gave him dominion." This verse from an old Slavonic version is practically the same verse we see in the book of Moses: "I established Adam and gave him dominion, and I gave him knowledge, I gave him his agency, and I gave him commandments, and said to him, 'This you should do, and this is bad.' What more do you want?" (See Moses 7:32-33.) God has given the human race the power of understanding and the word of wisdom. God created men last of all in his own form—put into man eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart with which to deliberate, with eyes wide open, their choices. God says, "I hoped they would come to me, but they had no love to offer me. Rather they praised the alien one and cleaved to him ['for he loved Satan rather than God'], and for that, they deserted their mighty Lord." Their mocking kings can say, with those of Enoch's day, "We pass away on the account of our own works, descending into Sheol." The fallen angels by their own sweet choice have rebelled and are gone into captivity—"a prison have I prepared for them" (Moses 7:38); therefore they shall go into hell. "Wo unto you mindless ones, for ye shall perish through your own folly; ye have not given ear nor received what is good for you." Following their own foolish ambitions and dreams, and setting their hope not on the foundation of the inheritance of their fathers, in a spirit of apostasy they have no peace of mind and no joy, but stubbornly continue their ruinous course, ignoring God's commandments and blaming others for their misfortunes "with great and hard accusations with an unclean mouth and lies—you are hard-hearted and have no peace." They are not beyond getting the point, for when Enoch speaks to them directly, "They could not speak nor could they raise their eyes to heaven for shame because of their sins and were condemned." He showed them a book, as in the Joseph Smith version. (Moses 6:5, 8, 46.) You cannot deny, he says "for a book of remembrance [you] have written among [you]"; and when he showed them the book, they "could not stand in his presence." (6:47.) This version says, "They could not speak nor raise their eyes to heaven for shame because of their sins when he showed them from the book."

A significant aspect of the apocalyptic picture is the technological advancement of the doomed and wicked world in which men defy God, confident in their technological and scientific knowledge (there's a great deal about this). To the various fallen angels designated by name, the Enoch text assigns the introduction among men of the study of chemistry, the manufacture of weapons and jewelry and cosmetics, the trade secrets of angels—formulas, incantations, drugs, astrologies," and so forth. "They thought to emancipate themselves from dependence on God through their technological know-how." This is not as foolish as it sounds, says the Zohar, for "they knew all the arts and all the ruling principles that governed the cosmos, and on this knowledge they relied until at length God corrected them by restoring the earth to its primitive state and covered it with water." In the days of Enoch even the children were acquainted with the mysterious arts—what we would call advanced sciences. Rabbi Yasah says, "With all that knowledge could they not foresee destruction?" to which Rabbi Isaac replies, "They knew, all right, but they thought they were just smart enough to prevent it, but what they did not know was that God rules the world. He gave them respite as long as the righteous men Jared, Methusaleh, and Enoch were alive, but when they departed from the world, God let the punishment descend and they were blotted from the earth." "Alas," cries Rabbi Simeon, "for the blindness of the sons of men, all unaware as they are, how full the earth is of strange and invisible beings and hidden dangers, which could they but see them, they would marvel how they themselves can survive ten minutes on the earth." InEnoch's time, they had all sorts of engineering projects for controlling and taming nature, as did Nimrod, but the Lord altered the order of creation so that their mastery of nature became their own undoing. The same scientific prowess that led them to reject God led them to insult nature, and the upheavals that engulfed them demonstrate the very real ecological connection between the sins of men and the revolt of the elements. This was formally viewed as fatal extravagance and irrational apocalyptic.

Our sources about Jacob consist of 31 pages in the Book of Mormon of Jacob's own words (13 in 2 Nephi; 18 in the book of Jacob), plus eleven brief references to him by Nephi, Lehi, Enos, Alma, and Mormon (1 Nephi 18:7; 18:19; 2 Nephi 2:1-4; 5:6; 5:26; 11:1; 11:3; 31:1;Enos 1:1-3; Alma 3:6; WofM 1:3).

There have been but few writings in the Church giving biographical references to Jacob. In 1891 Elder George Reynolds offered a brief biographical sketch in his Dictionary of the Book of Mormon (156-57). In 1966 I included a half-page entry on Jacob and a biographical note in my Who's Who in the Book of Mormon (25, 82). In October 1976, the Ensign magazine carried a short but informative article by C. Terry Warner. And in 1981, the index to the new edition of the Book of Mormon offered a list of 26 well-documented statements about Jacob. I have benefited from each of these publications and have endeavored to include all that these previous works have offered. But beyond their separate contributions, I have tried to make this paper the most complete recitation on Jacob that I could, by basing it on the text of the Book of Mormon itself, and by avoiding unreasonable speculation. I have admired Jacobfor more than 40 years, and that admiration has increased with this study.

Overview of Jacob's Life

Jacob is first mentioned in 1 Nephi 18:7 when Lehi's group was about to enter the ship on the Arabian coast to sail to the promised land. Nephi introduces Jacob in this manner: "And now, my father had begat two sons in the wilderness; the elder was called Jacob and the younger Joseph."

These two sons were born during the eight years Lehi's family journeyed in the wilderness (1 Nephi 17:4). We do not know the exact date of Jacob's birth, but we know it had to be within the first seven years of their journey in the wilderness, since Joseph was born after Jacoband was also born within the eight-year period. Since Lehi left Jerusalem in 600 BC, Jacobhad to have been born between 600 and 593 BC.

Lehi's group spent an undetermined length of time at Bountiful while the ship was being built. This would likely take a year or two. If the ship set sail at about 590 BC, and arrived in the promised land about 589 BC, the boy Jacob could be not less than three nor more than ten years old at that time. There is, however, additional information that has a bearing on the date of Jacob's birth.

Nephi's record of his family's travels in the wilderness and of the rebellions of Laman, Lemuel, and Ishmael's sons while voyaging at sea, tells us that his "parents being stricken in years, and having suffered much grief because of their children . . . were brought down, yea, even upon their sickbeds" (1 Nephi 18:17). Nephi said Lehi and Sariah's sorrow was so great that it almost caused their deaths, and that "Jacob and Joseph also, being young, having need of much nourishment, were grieved because of the afflictions of their mother" (1 Nephi 18:18-19).

Lehi, recalling these trying times, especially those in the wilderness, said to Joseph, "Thou wast born in the wilderness of mine afflictions; yea, in the days of my greatest sorrow did thy mother bear thee" (2 Nephi 3:1). And to Jacob he said: "Thou art my first-born in the days of my tribulation in the wilderness. And behold, in thy childhood thou hast suffered afflictions and much sorrow, because of the rudeness of thy brethren. Nevertheless, Jacob, my firstborn in the wilderness, thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain" (2 Nephi 2:1-2).

The tone of these verses suggests that certainly Jacob and possibly Joseph were old enough to remember their parents' suffering, the rebellion of Laman and Lemuel, and the goodness of Nephi while they were in the wilderness. Hence they would not have been mere infants at the time all of this was happening. Such evidence argues for Jacob's having been born during the early part of the wilderness journey, and therefore being at least seven and possibly as many as ten years old when they arrived in the promised land.

Lehi no doubt named his son Jacob in memory of the patriarch Jacob, father of the twelve tribes of Israel. It may well be that Lehi and Sariah, having recently obtained the plates of brass, a record of the house of Israel, and embarking on a journey toward a new promised land, were impressed to name their new son after their great ancestor. In like manner we conclude that Lehi's next son, Joseph, was named in honor of Joseph of Egypt, who was also their direct ancestor and would have been spoken of often in the plates of brass (see 2 Nephi 3:3, 4, 22).

All that we know about Jacob's life we have gleaned from the writings on the small plates of Nephi—the religious record. More detailed information would probably be found on the large plates of Nephi and also in Lehi's record (1 Nephi 19:1-2; see also 1 Nephi 1:16-17; 6:1; 9:1-5), which Nephi says contains genealogical information "and the more part of all our proceedings in the wilderness." I thus presume that the 116 pages of lost manuscript, which were a translation of Mormon's abridgement of the "Book of Lehi" (see heading of D&C 3), would contain considerably more about the boyhood of Jacob than does our present record.

After the death of father Lehi in the promised land, the Lord warned Nephi to separate himself from the families of his elder brethren and to take those people with him who believed in the revelations of God. Nephi speaks of this event: "Wherefore, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did take my family, and also Zoram and his family, and Sam, mine elder brother and his family, and Jacob and Joseph, my younger brethren, and also my sisters, and all those who would go with me. And all those who would go with me were those who believed in the warnings and the revelations of God" (2 Nephi 5:6).

We know from an earlier passage (1 Nephi 16:7) that Laman, Lemuel, Sam, Nephi, and Zoram had each married daughters of Ishmael, and it is interesting that now, a decade or so later, each of them is said to have "his family," but Jacob and Joseph are referred to only in the singular with no mention of a family. We know but little about when Jacob was married, to whom, or the manner of his family. We are informed that he did indeed have a family and that he taught them many times in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Enos 1:1) and often spoke to them of "eternal life and the joy of the saints" (Enos 1:3). We also know that he had a righteous son named Enos (Jacob 7:27; Enos 1:1-3). A posterity is also shown in theprophetic instruction to Jacob that the small plates would be handed down through his seed from generation to generation (Jacob 1:3).

As to how old he got or when he eventually died, we do not have much detail. The only certain date we have in the mature years of Jacob's life is found in Jacob 1:1, where he indicates that fifty-five "years had passed away from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem." This would be 545 BC and is near the beginning of the time when Jacob became the keeper of the records and the spiritual leader of his people. This seems to be very near the time of Nephi's death (Jacob 1:9-12; 2:1). Jacob would have been at least fifty years old at the time. All the events recorded in the book of Jacob happened after that, which as we will see took a number of years. When Jacob died he was therefore "some years" (see Jacob 7:1) past fifty.

Writing the Book of Jacob

Nephi had been both the spiritual and secular leader. But Jacob informs us that when Nephi became old he separated the responsibilities of the Church and the secular government and conferred each upon a different person. To Jacob he gave the sacred records known as the small plates. Although the report does not specifically say it, I assume that Jacob was also appointed at that time to succeed Nephi as the spiritual leader. Nephi conferred the responsibility of the civil government upon a man who became known among the people as second Nephi (see Jacob 1:1-11).

Nephi instructed Jacob that he should write upon the small plates only those things that were "most precious" such as "preaching which was sacred, or revelation which was great, or prophesying," and that he should touch but lightly on the history of the people (Jacob 1:2-4). That type of commandment required that Jacob wait for a while before writing upon the plates, since it calls for time to make comparisons and gain perspective. We can discern thatJacob waited for some length of time after he was given the records before he began writing, for in his first chapter he speaks of the "reigns of the kings" after Nephi, and also tells us that the successors to Nephi had taken the title of second, and then third Nephi, and so forth (see Jacob 1:9-11; see also 3:13). He would not have been able to make such a glance into the past had he written immediately.

The book of Jacob consists of three main sections. The first is Jacob 1:1 through 3:14, which contains a lengthy sermon by Jacob against the materialistic influence of riches and pride, and against the grosser crime of immorality. This portion of the book of Jacob concludes with these words: "These plates are called the plates of Jacob, and they were made by the hand of Nephi. And I make an end of speaking these words" (Jacob 3:14).

The second section is Jacob 4-6, and includes the marvelous allegory of Zenos. This section concludes with Jacob's farewell to his people until they meet at the "pleasing bar of God" (Jacob 6:13). It seems that Jacob had intended this "farewell" to be the end of his book.

The third and final section, Jacob 7, was written "some years" (v 1) later than the other two parts and tells of a man named Sherem, who was an anti-Christ. Apparently Jacob's encounter with Sherem was so important that he added it to his record, even though it was "some years" (v 1) after he had thought it was finished. Jacob concludes with an observation that his writing "has been small" (Jacob 7:27), which probably means small in comparison to the longer books of 1 and 2 Nephi.

The closing words of Jacob are these:

And it came to pass that I, Jacob, began to be old; and the record of this people being kept on the other plates of Nephi, wherefore, I conclude this record, declaring that I have written according to the best of my knowledge, by saying that the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream, we being a lonesome and a solemn people, wanderers, cast out from Jerusalem, born in tribulation, in a wilderness, and hated of our brethren, which caused wars and contentions; wherefore, we did mourn out our days.

And I, Jacob, saw that I must soon go down to my grave; wherefore, I said unto my son Enos: Take these plates. And I told him the things which my brother Nephi had commanded me, and he promised obedience unto the commands. And I make an end of my writing upon these plates, which writing has been small; and to the reader I bid farewell, hoping that many of my brethren may read my words. Brethren, adieu (Jacob 7:26-27).

Multiple Writings and Copies

Understanding that Jacob wrote on the small plates over a period of years with great care and selection leads to another important conclusion about his writing pattern and probably that of other Nephite prophets. A casual reader may think that what they engraved on the plates was all the writing the prophets did. However, Jacob makes an observation about the difficulty of engraving on metal compared to writing on other material. We read in Jacob 4:1-3:

Now behold, it came to pass that I, Jacob, having ministered much unto my people in word, (and I cannot write but a little of my words, because of the difficulty of engraving our words upon plates) and we know that the things which we write upon plates must remain; but whatsoever things we write upon anything save it be upon plates must perish and vanish away; but we can write a few words upon plates, which will give our children, and also our beloved brethren, a small degree of knowledge concerning us, or concerning their fathers—Now in this thing we do rejoice; and we labor diligently to engraven these words upon plates, hoping that our beloved brethren and our children will receive them with thankful hearts.

We see from this explanation that the Nephites did write upon other materials, probably leather or paper. I would conclude therefore that what Jacob finally engraved on metal plates would rarely, if ever, be his first draft of a document.

Jacob's Ministry

When Jacob became the chief spiritual leader of the Nephites, or in other words their prophet, at about 545 BC, he had already been tried, tested and proven worthy, and for 20-30 years had been a vigorous preacher of righteousness under Nephi's leadership. At an early ageJacob had a vision of the Savior. In Lehi's blessing to Jacob, recorded in 2 Nephi 2, we read: "Wherefore, thy soul shall be blessed . . . and thy days shall be spent in the service of thy God. Wherefore, I know that thou art redeemed, because of the righteousness of thy Redeemer . . . and thou hast beheld in thy youth his glory; wherefore, thou art blessed even as they unto whom he shall minister in the flesh" (vv 3-4).

Relatively early in his lifetime, Jacob was consecrated "a priest and a teacher over the land of my people" by his brother Nephi (2 Nephi 5:26; see also 6:2; Jacob 1:18). That he "came in at the gate" (see D&C 43:7), and was properly and regularly called to the work in the established order of the kingdom of God, is shown by Jacob's own statement about his call to the ministry: "I, Jacob, [have] been called of God, and ordained after the manner of his holy order, and [have] been consecrated by my brother Nephi" (2 Nephi 6:2).

The Priesthood and the Law of Moses

It is necessary that I say something about Jacob's being consecrated as "a priest and teacher." The faithful Nephites from Lehi to the time of Christ were diligent in performing the requirements of the law of Moses. It is true that they also had the gospel in its fulness and the Melchizedek Priesthood; yet they understood that it was necessary to obey the ordinances of the law of Moses until that law was fulfilled (see 2 Nephi 25:24-30; Jacob 4:5; Mosiah 13:30).

As originally established in Israel under the law of Moses, the Aaronic Priesthood was a hereditary office, and the priests were selected only from the family of Aaron. The Lord designated that the lesser priesthood was to be conferred on men called from the tribe of Levi, that within the tribe the direct descendants of Aaron should be designated as the priests (the highest office within the Levitical or Aaronic Priesthood), and that the presiding priests (high priest or "bishop") should be called only from the firstborn among the descendants of Aaron (see Ex 30:30-31; 40:15; D&C 68:16-19; 84:18; and 107:13-17). The ProphetJoseph Smith had this to say about the established order: "The Levitical Priesthood is forever hereditary—fixed on the head of Aaron and his sons forever, and was in active operation down to Zacharias the father of John" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith319).

There were no descendants of Levi or Aaron among the Nephites because Lehi's family was of Joseph (1 Nephi 6:2), rather than Levi. Therefore, the Nephites could not be regularly called to officiate in the ordinances of the law of Moses and Aaronic Priesthood. However, since the Melchizedek Priesthood encompasses all the powers and authority of the Aaronic, worthy men among the Nephites, such as Jacob and Joseph, could be consecrated as priests and teachers and could function in the ordinances of the law of Moses, as well as the gospel, by virtue of the Melchizedek Priesthood (see D&C 68:18-20). These were not the offices of priest and teacher as we know them today in the Aaronic Priesthood. It should be clear to us that the Nephites did not have an established order of priests and Levites such as that found in ancient Israel, because there were no Levites among them. Yet, there is strong evidence that the Nephite leaders held the Melchizedek Priesthood, since they performed the ordinances of the law of Moses, which they could not have done unless they had priesthood authority. Since they were not of the lineage to hold the Aaronic Priesthood, they must have held this Melchizedek Priesthood, which has no limitations on tribal lineage.

After the law of Moses was fulfilled by the atonement of Jesus Christ, the stipulations pertaining to the lineage of Levi and Aaron were no longer in effect. Hence after the coming of Christ, the Nephites could ordain non-Levite men to all of the Aaronic Priesthood offices even as we do today in the Church. However, in the restoration of all things, Aaron's lineage shall yet again be given a special assignment (see Smith 3:91-94; McConkie 10, 598-99).

Jacob's Colorful Methods

We will now return to the account of Jacob's ministry. In 2 Nephi 6-10, Nephi included a lengthy sermon that Jacob had delivered to the people. We are not informed what the occasion was, but we can discern that it was a conference or a special gathering, because Nephi appointedJacob to speak and requested that his topic include those parts of Isaiah we call chapters 49 through 52. Although the written account of this sermon occupies 13 pages in 2 Nephi, it is only a portion of what Jacob said at the time. The discourse was so long that it took Jacobtwo days to deliver it. Nephi was so pleased with the discourse that he recorded part of it on the small plates and then commented: "And now, Jacob spake many more things to my people at that time; nevertheless only these things [2 Nephi 6-10] have I caused to be written" (2 Nephi 11:1). The words "at that time" further suggest that this was a particular occasion or conference. And there can be no missing the fact that Nephi recognized that his younger brother had a special ability to declare the word of the Lord and teach the people.

At the beginning of this sermon, Jacob says a few things that are useful to us in learning about him as a person and as a teacher. First, he states his authority as his having been "called of God, and ordained after the manner of his holy order," and "consecrated" by Nephi. He then informs his hearers that he has already spoken to them of "exceedingly many things," but wants to speak again, for he is "desirous for the welfare of" their souls and has great anxiety for his people. He has previously exhorted them with "all diligence," and taught "the words of [his] father," and has "spoken unto [them] concerning all things which are written, from the creation of the world" (2 Nephi 6:2-3). He then explains:

And now, behold, I would speak unto you concerning things which are, and which are to come; wherefore, I will read you the words of Isaiah. And they are the words which my brother has desired that I should speak unto you. And I speak unto you for your sakes, that ye may learn and glorify the name of your God. And now, the words which I shall read are they which Isaiah spake concerning all the house of Israel; wherefore, they may be likened unto you, for ye are of the house of Israel. And there are many things which have been spoken by Isaiah which may be likened unto you, because ye are of the house of Israel (vv 4-5).

It is clear that Jacob was lively and energetic in his ministry, a preacher of the gospel, a student of the holy scriptures and an exhorter to righteousness. Nephi respected him and approved of his preaching and his doctrine. Nephi even tells us that one of the reasons he likes Jacob so much is that Jacob is a personal eye witness of the Redeemer and therefore has something important to say. Nephi places Jacob alongside Isaiah and himself:

And now I, Nephi, write more of the words of Isaiah, for my soul delighteth in his words. For I will liken his words unto my people, and I will send them forth unto all my children, for he verily saw my Redeemer, even as I have seen him. And my brother, Jacob, also has seen him as I have seen him; wherefore, I will send their words forth unto my children to prove unto them that my words are true. Wherefore, by the words of three, God hath said, I will establish my word (2 Nephi 11:2-3).

The records show that early in life Jacob had exhibited those traits of stability, spiritual capacity, and doctrinal clarity that make him one of the outstanding Book of Mormon prophets.

Jacob not only covers a multitude of subjects, "all things which are written, from the creation of the world" (2 Nephi 6:3), but he demonstrates his sincerity and illustrates his seriousness in a number of ways. He is descriptive in his language, using a large number of adjectives and metaphors. In addition he is blunt and forceful in his message. He expresses great love for the people, but was not of the opinion that he must always maintain a positive image or say only nice things. Without being crude, he is nevertheless devastatingly direct in reminding the people of their sins.

He must have been animated as a speaker, for on at least one occasion as he stood before the people he literally shook their sins from his garments. His words are so graphic we need to read them to feel the impact:

O, my beloved brethren, remember my words. Behold, I take off my garments, and I shake them before you; I pray the God of my salvation that he view me with his all-searching eye; wherefore, ye shall know at the last day, when all men shall be judged of their works, that the God of Israel did witness that I shook your iniquities from my soul, and that I stand with brightness before him, and am rid of your blood (2 Nephi 9:44).

There is no way Jacob could have shaken his garments in that manner without attracting considerable attention. It is significant that he did this while he was a relatively young man serving under the leadership of Nephi. He was not the prophet at that time, but he was aprophet in the making. From the record, we learn that Jacob taught by the Spirit and was a bold, charismatic expounder of the gospel of Jesus Christ. By reading his words I developed a mental image of him illustrated by terms such as stalwart, strong, courageous, compassionate, deliberate, forthright, meek, dignified, appropriate, reflective, poetic, sensitive, and kind.

It is noteworthy that in the 31 pages of the Book of Mormon containing firsthand material given us from Jacob's mouth and pen, he says little about himself. When he does, he usually focuses on his ministry, his call, his preaching, visits from an angel, and so forth. His interest is in the sacred word and the doctrine. Although that leaves us without personal details, it nevertheless tells us something about him.

Subject Matter of Jacob's Teachings

We have already mentioned that Jacob taught the words of his father and that he taught "all things from the creation" (2 Nephi 6:3) from the scriptures. We have also noted that he enjoyed using the words of Isaiah. Following is a discussion about some of Jacob's prominent teachings, specifically noting what we owe to him, or learn specifically from him, in the Book of Mormon. These are doctrines that we would not otherwise have in such clarity were it not for his teachings. In making this selection I chose topics on which I turn to Jacobfor help in teaching. That is, I chose things for which Jacob is sometimes the only source, or in some instances the best source, and always a very good source.

The Scattering and Gathering of Israel

Although Jacob is only one of several Book of Mormon writers who discuss the scattering and gathering of Israel, he is probably the most prolific on the subject. I don't think anyone has revealed more about this subject than he has, unless possibly Nephi. Jacob informs us that he knows whereof he speaks because it was told him by an angel (see 2 Nephi 6:9, 11), or he read of it from the writings of Isaiah or Zenos, or he was taught it by the Spirit (Jacob4:15). He speaks in detail of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and also of a second destruction and scattering of the Jews after the time of Christ (2 Nephi 6:8-15; 9:1-2;10:1-22). His great interest in the worldwide scattering and gathering of Israel and their eventual acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ led him to quote the lengthy allegory of Zenos found in Jacob 5. We are ever grateful to Jacob for including this marvelous excerpt from the plates of brass, which is the most comprehensive statement we have on the scattering and gathering anywhere in scripture.

What if There Were No Atonement?

In 2 Nephi 9 Jacob presents a most informative explanation of the fall of Adam and the Savior's atonement. In this chapter Jacob explains that the great Creator himself is the Holy One of Israel, who will come and die for all mankind and provide an infinite atonement (2 Nephi 9:5-7). This statement by Jacob is the first use of the phrase "infinite atonement" in the Book of Mormon. What would have been the consequences if there had been no atonement by Jesus Christ? Do you know the answer? Jacob knew. He declares that because of the fall of Adam, which has passed upon all mankind, if there were not an infinite atonement the fleshly bodies of all mankind would return to the earth never to receive a resurrection, and the spirits of mankind would all become devils, forever miserable, and be forever subject to the devil. "And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil . . . in misery, like unto himself" (2 Nephi 9:9). This declaration about what would have been the fate of mankind, especially of man's spirit, if there were no Savior, is plainer than is found in any other passage of scripture, and is one of the greatest testimonies of the benefit mankind receives from the atonement of our Redeemer. If you want to see how little this is known, and thus how important this information is, test it on your family or friends. Ask them what the condition of our spirits would be if there had been no atonement. Few will understand this without the help of Jacob. We find ourselves turning to 2 Nephi 9:7-9 again and again in teaching the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Jacob's Vivid Use of Language

Jacob continues his discourse by speaking of death, hell, the grave, paradise, resurrection, judgment, spiritual death, redemption, happiness, misery, obedience, disobedience, and other topics that belong to the plan of salvation. But Jacob doesn't call it simply the plan of salvation, he labels it the "merciful plan of the great Creator" (2 Nephi 9:6), or the "great plan of our God" (v 13), or the "way of deliverance of our God" (v 11). Likewise, the work of the devil is "that cunning plan of the evil one" (v 28).

Furthermore, Jacob does not simply speak of "death," but of "the slumber of death" (Jacob3:11) and three times he speaks of death as an "awful monster" (2 Nephi 9:10, 19, 26). If a person neglects to keep the commandments he is not merely disobedient, he "wasteth the days of his probation, [and] awful is his state" (2 Nephi 9:27). He doesn't say that mankind is under the eye of God, but that man is under "the all-searching eye of God" (2 Nephi 9:44). In one breath Jacob speaks of "awful fear," "awful guilt," "awful misery," and "awful reality" awaiting the ungodly (2 Nephi 9:46-47).

In describing the futility of mortal man's rebellion against God, Jacob mentions, "the piercing eye of Almighty God" (Jacob 2:10), and exclaims, "O that he would show you that he can pierce you, and with one glance of his eye he can smite you to the dust" (Jacob 2:15). To illustrate the scope of the Lord's knowledge, he proclaims, "How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him . . . it is impossible that man should find out all his ways" (Jacob 4:8), and "he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it" (2 Nephi 9:20). Jacoblikes adjectives to accompany his nouns, so he speaks of the "great Creator" (2 Nephi 9:5), the "merciful plan" (2 Nephi 9:6), the "infinite atonement" (2 Nephi 9:7), "captive bodies" in the grave, and "captive spirits" in hell (2 Nephi 9:13). He speaks of uncleanness, nakedness, guilt, and perfect knowledge (2 Nephi 9:14). Jacob glories in the majesty of God, and when he speaks of him he exults with phrases such as, "O, the greatness and the justice of our God" (2 Nephi 9:17), "O the greatness of the mercy of our God" (2 Nephi 9:19), "O how great the holiness of our God" (2 Nephi 9:20). We do not have anything else equal to Jacob's preaching. The Book of Mormon mentions "the gift of preaching" (Alma 9:21), and Jacobhad such a gift.

Riches, Pride, and Unchastity

One of Jacob's strongest discourses is centered on the curse of trusting in material riches, the problem of harboring pride, and the damning effects of immorality. His teachings on these subjects are among the best we have in the scriptures, not only for their content, but also for the directness of his message and the beauty and power of his language. In speaking of these subjects Jacob talks of "the pleasing word of God" (Jacob 2:8) and says that "the hand of providence hath smiled upon [the people] most pleasingly" so that they have become rich in material things (Jacob 2:13), but as a consequence they have also become proud. He rebukes the men who have been untrue to their marriage vows, saying they have "broken the hearts of their tender wives and lost the confidence of their children, because of their bad examples before them," and therefore "many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds" (Jacob 2:35). Jacob says this situation is like "daggers placed to pierce their souls and wound their delicate minds" (Jacob 2:9).

The Name "Christ"

Although the Book of Mormon speaks of the Savior a great many times, beginning in the very first chapter, it does not introduce the words Jesus or Christ until 78 pages into the book. For example, the book of 1 Nephi makes 150 references to the Savior, using 23 different names, but it never uses the name Jesus or Christ. The first use of the name Christ in the Book of Mormon is in 2 Nephi 10:3, in Jacob's lengthy two-day sermon. It appears, from the wayJacob says it, that this is a new term among them: "Wherefore, as I said unto you, it must needs be expedient that Christ—for in the last night the angel spake unto me that this should be his name—should come among the Jews."

It is significant that Jacob emphasized his words by declaring that an angel had given him this new name just the night before. I am not surprised that this specific information was made known through this unusual and excellent prophet Jacob. The Nephites already knew of the Atonement and they had many different names for the Savior, but Jacob seems to have given them the very word and pronunciation of the name Christ.

The Power of Faith

Jacob's entire life is a reflection of his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He explains that when Sherem the anti-Christ sought him out it was in the "hope to shake me from the faith," because Sherem knew that "I, Jacob had faith in Christ who should come" (Jacob 7:3-5). However, Jacob had had "many revelations," and had "truly seen angels" and had "heard the voice of the Lord speaking unto [him] in very word, from time to time; wherefore [he] could not be shaken" (Jacob 7:5).

In Jacob 4:6 he relates some of the miraculous things which accompany the kind of faith that he and the other prophets possessed: "Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea" (Jacob 4:6).

We do not have an account of Jacob's commanding the mountains, the waves, or the trees to obey, but he seems to be familiar with such miracles. He reasons with the reader that it should not be surprising that God can give a man power to command the elements and that the elements will obey, since God created the world in the first place by the "power of his word." So why would God not be able to command the earth, "according to his will and pleasure?" (Jacob 4:7-9).

Obtaining a Hope in Christ

Closely associated with having faith is what Jacob calls "obtaining a hope in Christ" (seeJacob 2:19; 4:6). All the prophets speak of "hope," but Jacob is unique in the way he uses the word. His phrase of "obtaining a hope" is more than just having "hope" and seems to be the assurance or testimony that one has reached a particular state or spiritual condition and a special relationship with the Lord. Here are some of Jacob's words on the subject. "Before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good" (Jacob 2:18-19). And also: "We knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming" (Jacob 4:4). And again: "We search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken" (Jacob 4:6). Jacob urges his hearers to have faith and to be reconciled to God through the atonement of Christ, having "obtained a good hope of glory . . . before he manifesteth himself in the flesh" (Jacob 4:11).

The phrase "a hope" is used two other times in the Book of Mormon by Alma the Younger (Alma 13:29; 25:16), but the context of each shows that it is used differently than Jacob uses it. In all, the word hope appears 50 times in the Book of Mormon and is used by eight differentprophets. Jacob, however, is unique in using it in the sense of obtaining "a hope," which is an achievement of something beyond simply "hoping."

All the Prophets Knew of Christ

That all the prophets knew of and testified of the coming of Christ is a fundamental gospel concept. The Old Testament in its present condition is not at all clear on this matter, so we look to latter-day revelation for evidence. There are numerous passages in the Book of Mormon that can be used to teach this concept, but none better than two passages in the book of Jacob. When I want a scripture that is clear and to the point on this subject I cite the following from Jacob: "We knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets which were before us. Behold, they believed in Christ and worshiped the Father in his name, and also we worship the Father in his name" (Jacob 4:4-5). And also: "Behold, I say unto you that none of the prophets have written, nor prophesied, save they have spoken concerning this Christ" (Jacob 7:11). Language cannot be plainer than that.

A Definition of Truth

To formulate a definition of "truth" has taxed the mental and philosophical resources of the world's thinkers. Pilate asked Jesus, "What is truth?" (John 18:38); as if he were saying, "Who knows what truth is?" Furthermore, we ask in one of our hymns, "O Say, What is Truth?"(Hymns #272). Jacob helps to provide an answer to these queries by defining what truth is and telling how we can learn it. These are his words: "The Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and things as they really will be" (Jacob 4:13). In other words, Jacob says that truth is reality, learned through the Spirit.

The Lord further defined truth as "knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come" (D&C 93:24). The hymn, "O Say, What is Truth?" identifies truth as "the sum of existence," and in Doctrine and Covenants 91:4 the Lord says that "the Spirit manifesteth truth." Jacob's definition is in harmony with that in the Doctrine and Covenants and in the hymn, and is especially meaningful to us, because it indicates that ultimate truth is known through the voice of the Spirit. As we know, some truths are available to mortals in no other way but by the ministration of the Holy Spirit.

To Be Learned is Good

An oft-quoted verse from the Book of Mormon, at least in a university setting, comes from Jacobas recorded in 2 Nephi 9:29. But as recorded in verse 28, Jacob had just spoken of the cunning plan of the devil to deceive mankind and to cause men to trust vainly and foolishly in their own learning and "set aside" the "counsel of God," "supposing they know of themselves." Jacob doesn't say there is any particular blessedness in being ignorant. He knows that it is not the learning, but the pride and vanity men place in their learning that is a problem, so to set the matter straight he says: "But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God" (2 Nephi 9:29). However, we should take note from Jacob's caution that many who are learned struggle with their faith.

A Perfect Knowledge of Christ

We have mentioned twice in this paper that Jacob was an eyewitness of Jesus Christ, and that even in his youth he had seen the Redeemer. Jacob himself tells us that he had seen angels, had received ministration from them, and "had heard the voice of the Lord speaking [to him] in very word" (Jacob 7:5). He also speaks of what he calls "a perfect knowledge" of Christ (Jacob 4:12). He does not define exactly what a perfect knowledge is, but the context suggests to me that he is saying there is more to the gospel than merely learning doctrines and principles. Important as these are, we have the opportunity to go even further and receive a perfect knowledge of Christ. Here is the passage: "And now, beloved, marvel not that I tell you these things: for why not speak of the atonement of Christ, and attain to a perfect knowledge of him, as to attain to the knowledge of a resurrection and the world to come?"

What is a perfect knowledge over and beyond knowing the written concepts and the principles and having a testimony?. I think it is being an eyewitness to the Redeemer. Who would know this better than Jacob?

Conclusion

Jacob is one of the greatest doctrinal teachers and theologians of the Book of Mormon, and thus of all scripture. He demonstrates a philosophical grasp of the gospel and offers unique and valuable insights into important doctrinal matters. Father Lehi was of a similar disposition. It is no coincidence that among all of Lehi's blessings to his sons, the blessing he gave to Jacob is the most doctrinal (see 2 Nephi 2). The content of that blessing has captured the attention of most Book of Mormon students because of its statements about the Creation, the Fall, Adam's condition before and after the Fall, man's agency, and the idea of opposition in all things. While the blessing is in the words of Lehi, I find it significant that it was to the youthful Jacob that he said these things. The blessing fits his mind and spirituality.